(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

I applaud the city of Somerville for taking action on climate change and its goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. In response to the 5/20 article on Greentech pilots I want to mention an important piece of legislation that would accelerate investments in alternative energy and green technology. Representatives Toomey, Provost and Barber along with Senator Jehlen have co-sponsored a bill along with 37 other Massachusetts senators and representatives that would impose a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels and return that revenue to households and businesses.

We find it commendable that the Somerville Board of Alderman found time to address an important domestic issue recently. Whether or not it should be the business of city government to regulate such things as requiring restaurants to provide changing stations for patrons who bring their babies along is a matter of debate.

Ward 3 Alderman Robert J. McWatters made it official on Tuesday by submitting his re-election papers at City Hall.

By Donald Norton

Ward 3 Alderman Robert J. McWatters seeking his first re-election was at city hall Tuesday to submit his papers.

He has been walking the streets and been well received when he knocks on the doors of Ward 3 residents.

The current Yawkey League champions, Somerville Alibrandis, is starting off its 2015 with a series of stunning wins.

By Tom Bannister

The Somerville Alibrandis led off the season with a series of impressive wins. The team came out strong, despite the loss of longtime captain and one of the best players to play in the Yawkey Baseball Legaue, Marc DesRoches, who retired after his 19th season on the team.

Eagle Feathers #79 – Decoration Day

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It was a day born out of the Civil War to honor the soldiers who had died during that terrible conflict. The official tradition began on the 30th of May, 1868 at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Arrests:
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Ricardo Pimentel, of 190 Pearl St., May 18, 7:52 p.m., arrested at home on a warrant charge of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

Mary Alexandra Agner met me at my usual corner at the Bloc 11 Café in Union Square to discuss her career in science, writing and poetry. Agner moved to Somerville in 1997, and told me that her first poetry publication was in Somerville’s Ibbetson Street magazine. Agner earned a degree from MIT and an MFA at Emerson College in Boston. At Emerson she studied with the late, great, and very eccentric poet Bill Knott. Agner said of Knott: “He was very influential and was very willing to work with me and other students. In fact Knott blurbed her first collection of poetry: “Doors of the Body.”

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I have had a love affair with the great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong ever since I heard him sing the line (in that wonderful, worldly rasping voice of his his), “Take your shoes off Lucy, and let’s get juicy,” from Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Poet Matthew Sisson does a riff on this late Jazz great. Matthew Sisson’s poetry has appeared in magazines and journals ranging from the Harvard Review Online, to JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he is the former poetry editor of the trade journal Modern Steel Construction. His first book, Please, Call Me Moby, was published by the Pecan Grove Press, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio Texas in March of 2015, and is available at his website, matthewsissonpoetry.com, and on Amazon.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

The Navy’s Blue Angels squadron of six F/A-18 Hornet jets flew over the Greater Boston area, including Somerville, on Tuesday as part of a scheduled photo shoot.

Please join Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) on Wed., May 27, at 2:45 p.m. to raise the Pride flag in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month and LGBTQ Youth Pride. The ceremony will take place on the City Hall concourse, 93 Highland Ave. Mayor Curtatone, City LGBTQ Community Liaison Andra Oshinsky, and a representative from GSA will speak at the event. The event is open to the public, and  community members are invited to join in celebrating LGBTQ youth and the diversity that makes Somerville great. For more information about the GSA and other LGBT programming, events and information, please contact lgbtq@somervillema.gov, or 617-625-6600 ext 2400.